Seeing or handling even moderate amounts of cash may be a good way for people to relieve some of their feelings of rejection, and even physical pains, a new study by American and Chinese experts finds. Conversely, people tend to suffer more when they remember the things they spent a large part of their hard-earned money on. The interesting results are published in a recent issue of the respected journal Psychological Science, Nature News reports.

According to a hypothesis set forth by the researchers behind the new investigation, it may be that people have a greater sense of self-confidence and self-esteem when they hold or contemplate large amounts of cash, and, as such, may view themselves as being less dependent on others for a short time. This could be one of the reasons why test subjects felt physically stronger once they were face-to-face with the money. “Money activates a general sense of confidence, strength, and efficacy,” the experts say.

“Previous work hadn't gone as far as to link reminders of money to something at a physical perceptual level,” University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (UMM) researcher Kathleen Vohs explains. She was also involved in similar previous studies, which showed that test participants who were told they would receive a large sum of money were less likely to ask for help in experimental conditions than others – who were told nothing –, even if the task at hand was very difficult for them. This denotes an increased sense of confidence and pride in people who believe a large sum of money is coming to them soon.

After studying the behavior, reactions to social exclusion and physical pain, as well as the subconscious mind patterns of groups between 72 and 108 students large, Chinese Psychologist Xinyue Zhou, from the Sun Yat-Sen University, shares that the studies may also bring some completely new insight into the human brain. In short, the team tells that some of the abilities that the human brain has in processing data related to social interaction were “reverse-engineered” during evolution from pre-existing systems, which most likely processed physical pain.

“We know that social exclusion has all sorts of negative consequences for behavior,” University of Kentucky in Lexington (UKL) Psychologist Nathan DeWall adds. He believes that the effects of exclusion on aggression could be reduced by devising therapies in which patients simply think about money, in carefully simulated conditions.